Count Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau among those not pleased with Canada Soccer’s choice to schedule a friendly next month against Iran.
As a lead-in to their upcoming CONCACAF Nations League matches against Curaçao and Honduras, Canada has scheduled Iran for a friendly in Vancouver on June 5. On the surface, it’s a very normal thing for World Cup-bound teams to do: When you get the chance, scheduling other teams that have qualified is a good way to test yourself for the challenge to come.
However, in this case the context is crucial. According to the Canadian government, 55 Canadian citizens and 30 more permanent residents were killed when Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by the Iranian military shortly after it took off from Tehran on January 8, 2020.
According to an investigation by two United Nations experts, the incident was due in part to “systematic violations and failures by the Iranian authorities to meet their human rights obligation.”
With that in mind, Trudeau hit out at the decision to schedule the friendly.
“This was a decision by Sport Canada, Soccer Canada. I think it wasn’t a very good idea to invite the Iranian soccer team here to Canada,” said Trudeau when asked by reporters about the decision to grant the Iran delegation visas. “That’s something the organizers are going to have to explain.”
In an op-ed in The Globe and Mail, Hamed Esmaeilion, the chief spokesperson for the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, called on the game to be cancelled.
“This invitation is an affront to those who lost loved ones in the downing of Flight PS752,” Esmaeilion wrote.
In the aftermath of Flight PS752, Trudeau announced an annual National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Air Disasters to occur on January 8.
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